May 2, 2003
Ending Discrimination Against People With Alcohol and Drug Problems >>"People with alcohol and drug problems face public and private policies that restrict their access to appropriate health care, employment, and public benefits, discouraging them from seeking treatment, robbing them of hope for recovery, and costing society millions of dollars."Join Together, a project of Boston University School of Public Health, formed a national policy panel to address this discrimination. The panelists developed the principles and recommendations contained in this report, relying principally upon the written and oral testimony which they received. Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project, served as a panelist.
Join Together was assisted in this effort by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, which facilitated the panel's initial hearing at the ABA's Annual Meeting in August 2002.
- Ending Discrimination Against People With Alcohol and Drug Problems
Members of the national policy panel developed two principles and ten recommendations to help address discrimination. - Testimony Referenced in the Report
Over 40 individuals gave written or oral testimony to the panel for its consideration. Read the full text of comments referenced in the report. - Policy Panel Members, with Biographies
Twelve leaders from the judicial system, employee relations, the medical community, and the media participated in the panel. - Op-Ed of Panel Report
This op-ed was published in the Baltimore Sun on April 21, 2003 and written by Kurt L. Schmoke, a former mayor of Baltimore and present dean of the Howard University School of Law, and Richard K. Willard, a senior vice president and legal and general counsel of the Gillette Co.
